The 2026 INDY NXT by Firestone season doesn’t start for another 3½ months, but teams, drivers and fans received a second sneak preview in the last two weeks after a test Nov. 10 at Barber Motorsports Park.

Twenty-three drivers turned laps in chilly conditions on the 17-turn, 2.3-mile road course in Birmingham, Alabama, just 14 days after 24 drivers participated in the annual Chris Griffis Memorial Test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

While times and speeds are not officially released from private tests, various media reports and social media feeds have given an opportunity to try to make some itemized deductions:

Taylor Emerges Again

Max Taylor (photo, above) didn’t make a huge impression during his rookie season in 2025, a partial schedule of just six starts with HMD Motorsports, with a best finish of fourth in the second race of the doubleheader at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

That looks to change in 2026.

Taylor, 18, will be a driver to watch in 2026 after moving to Andretti Global for his first full season in the series. He raised a few eyebrows by ending up second overall in the Griffis test and raised the ante Monday at Barber by leading that test.

Even more impressive than Taylor’s top status was the gap he established at the top -- .6561 of a second over new teammate and series veteran Josh Pierson.

Taylor also enjoys some winning pedigree with his new car with Andretti. He will drive the No. 28 that Dennis Hauger guided to the title last year as a series rookie.

Pierson Holds Steady

Pierson is just 19, but he will enter his fourth season overall in the INDYCAR development series and looks poised to fulfill the potential that greeted his entry to this level in 2023.

Oregon native Pierson ended up second at this test after stopping the clocks third at the Griffis test, six-tenths of a second behind leader Taylor and five-hundredths of a second ahead of third-place Enzo Fittipaldi. He and Taylor are the only drivers among the top five in the Griffis and Barber tests.

Pierson’s best finish in INDY NXT is second, but it’s a pretty safe bet he will reach the top step of the podium next season.

Max Taylor

Andretti Still Stacked

Andretti Global drivers have won the last two INDY NXT championships, with Louis Foster in 2024 and Hauger last season. Both drivers climbed to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES after their titles.

It could be more of the same for the team in 2026, if these two tests are any indication.

Andretti drivers Seb Murray and Taylor (photo, above) led the Griffis and Barber tests, respectively.

It could be more of the same for the team in 2026, if these two tests are any indication.

Andretti drivers Seb Murray and Taylor led the Griffis and Barber tests, respectively. Taylor and Pierson were the only drivers to end up in the top five at both tests. And the team’s only returning driver, Lochie Hughes, was sixth at IMS and fourth at Barber.

Enzo Fittipaldi

Fittipaldi Getting More Comfortable

A driver with one of the most famous last names in global motorsports continued to make progress at this Barber test, as Enzo Fittipaldi (photo, above) ended up third on the speed chart as he prepares for his rookie season in the series with HMD Motorsports.

Fittipaldi, the grandson of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and two-time Formula One World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi, was 11th two weeks ago at the Griffis test but picked up the pace considerably at Barber.

He brings an impressive, varied resume to INDY NXT, with experience in Formula 4, Formula 3 and Formula 2. He won two races and earned 13 podium finishes in F2, the last ladder rung before Formula One.

It’s a similar path as that taken by Hauger, who joined the series for the 2025 season with winning experience in F2 and went on to win the championship as a rookie.

Fittipaldi also has tested in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES with Arrow McLaren and in Formula E with Jaguar.